How long do salmon live?

We see them in the ocean, we see them in fancy fish tanks, and we buy them on the regular to eat them at home or at pricy restaurants. But we’re not going to talk about how good salmon taste, but how long do they live.

Today, we’re going to take a look at these big fishes to understand more about their life expectancy and how long they can live in captivity vs in the wild. Let’s begin.

Index
  1. Salmon lifespan
    1. How long do salmon live in the wild?
    2. How long do salmon live in captivity?

Salmon lifespan

Nobody ever seems to care how long do fish live, and we tend to believe they all live a very short life, but the truth is, they actually have a much longer lifespan than you might think.

Salmons do get to live past the one year mark, actually, they have a life expectancy of 3 to 8 years! Much more that what most people think.

Related posts: How long do goldfish live? | How long do sharks live? | How long do whales live?

How long do salmon live in the wild?

Let’s talk a little bit about salmons and their natural habitat and predators before we get to talk about their actual lifespan. It’s pretty obvious where salmons live, since they are fish, but not many people know these type of fishes have natural predators.

A not to well known fact is that salmons have to deal with being eaten by both bigger fishes and humans, which significantly reduces their lifespan, causing them not to be able to live up to their maximum life expectancy.

That being said, salmons living in the wild get to live anywhere from 1 to 3 years if they’re lucky enough, although it is very unlikely they’ll get to reach the 8 year mark so easily.

However, despite their predators and the fact they are almost constantly exposed to them, salmons still have a relatively long life expectancy, even in the wild, specially when you consider they are only fishes, and fishes don’t get to have such a long life expectancy.

How long do salmon live in captivity?

Like we mentioned before, salmons actually do live longer in captivity than in the wild, being able to live up to 8 years, having a much longer life expectancy in captivity than in the wild.

The reason why salmons living in captivity get to live longer is actually very simple: they don’t have to deal with being around their natural predators nor being caught and eaten by humans.

It’s important to mention that salmons don’t usually live in captivity, and when they do, it’s because they are being reproduced to be sold to local markets as fresh as possible. So fishes living in captivity isn’t something that you’ll see on a regular basis.

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